Swedish Retailer Hennes & Mauritz
Enters U.S. Market and 5th Avenue

By

Barbara Martinez Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Aug. 13, 1999 7:13 p.m. ET

NEW YORK -- European store chain Hennes & Mauritz AB is making its first foray into the crowded U.S. retail marketplace with plans to occupy a long-empty site in Manhattan, across the street from Bloomingdale's flagship department store.

Hennes & Mauritz is based in Stockholm and operates about 120 department stores in Sweden and more than 400 outlets elsewhere in Europe. The company signed 15-year leases to open locations at two Manhattan sites owned by Vornado Realty Trust , a Saddle Brook, N.J., real-estate...